The present invention relates to a tetrazine based energetic material and more particularly to 3,6-bis(1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazol-5-ylamino)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine and its salts, e.g., the di-ammonium, di-hydroxylammonium, or di-hydrazinium salt. Additionally, the present invention relates to composite propellants including such a tetrazine based energetic material. This invention was made with government support under a contract with the Department of Energy (Contract No. W-7405-ENG-36).
Solid propellants are used extensively in the aerospace industry. Solid propellants have developed as the preferred method of powering most missiles and rockets for military, commercial, and space applications. Solid rocket motor propellants have become widely accepted because of the fact that they are relatively simple to formulate and use, and they have excellent performance characteristics. Furthermore, solid propellant rocket motors are generally very simple when compared to liquid fuel rocket motors. For all of these reasons, it is found that solid rocket propellants are often preferred over other alternatives, such as liquid propellant rocket motors.
Typical solid rocket motor propellants are generally formulated having an oxidizing agent, a fuel, and a binder. At times, the binder and the fuel may be the same. In addition to the basic components set forth above, it is conventional to add various plasticizers, curing agents, cure catalysts, ballistic catalysts, and other similar materials which aid in the processing, curing, and burning properties of the propellant. A significant body of technology has developed related solely to the processing and curing of solid propellants, and this technology is well known to those skilled in the art.
One type of propellant that is widely used incorporates ammonium perchlorate (AP) as the oxidizer. The ammonium perchlorate oxidizer may then, for example, be incorporated into a propellant which is bound together by a hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) binder. Such binders are widely used and commercially available. It has been found that such propellant compositions provide ease of manufacture, relative ease of handling, good performance characteristics; and are at the same time economical and reliable. In essence it can be said that ammonium perchlorate composite propellants have been the backbone of the solid propulsion industry for approximately the past 40 years.
In certain composite propellants, the propellant is xe2x80x9cmetallized.xe2x80x9d That is, the propellant includes from about 5% to about 25% by weight metal. The metal may be aluminum, magnesium or other suitable metal. Generally, aluminum is the metal of choice. The particle size of the metal is known to affect the plateau burning of the propellant. In most applications, metal particles in the range of 5 xcexcm to 80 xcexcm are preferred.
Despite the success of conventional composite propellants, research into new energetic materials has continued. The development of additional energetic materials can allow for a greater variety of propellant formulations with varying properties.
An object of the present invention is to provide new energetic materials such as 3,6-bis(1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazol-5-ylamino)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine (BTATz) and its salts.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process of preparing such energetic materials.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide composite propellants including the energetic material 3,6-bis(1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazol-5-ylamino)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine (BTATz).
To achieve the foregoing and other objects, and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention provides for the compound 3,6-bis(1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazol-5-ylamino)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine.
The present invention further provides for the compounds, 3,6-bis(1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazol-5-ylamino)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine2NH4+, 3,6-bis(1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazol-5-ylamino)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine2NH2NH3+ and 3,6-bis(1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazol-5-ylamino)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine2HONH3+.
The present invention further provides a propellant composition including an oxidizer, a binder and 3,6-bis(1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazol-5-ylamino)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine.